HONG KONG, Nov 12: Fears over the corporate sector and global economic slowdown saw Asian markets finish down on Wednesday as traders chose to stay on the sidelines.

As General Motors shares continued to plummet on fears it is about to go bust, regional firms were showing signs of strain.

Singapore Telecom posted a 12.1 per cent fall in quarterly earnings and Japanese advertising firm Dentsu Inc. said its half-year net profits lost 44 per cent as companies cut back on spending.

Tokyo closed 1.29 per cent down, Hong Kong was 0.7 per cent down and Sydney shed 0.8 per cent, while Seoul lost 0.4 per cent, Taipei dropped 0.5 per cent and Singapore slid 1.27 per cent.

GM chief executive Rick Wagoner has said the car giant only has cash at hand to stay alive for a few more months and added it needed to line up a federal aid package before president-elect Barack Obama took office in January.

After plunging 22 per cent Monday, its shares dropped another 13.02 per cent Tuesday to $2.92, their lowest since 1943.

Dealers were looking ahead to a weekend meeting of world leaders in Washington, which they hope will produce ideas for a way out of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

They were also preparing for October retails sales figures from the US due Friday.

TOKYO: Japanese stocks dropped 1.29 per cent.

The world economy is worsening further due to trouble stemming from the United States, Nikko Cordial broker Hiroichi Nishi said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index dropped 113.79 points to 8,695.51. The Topix index of all first section issues fell 14.13 points, or 1.59 per cent, to 875.23.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.7 per cent lower.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 101.81 points at 13,939.09.

Turnover was light at 47.24 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.06 billion US).

The shares were dragged down by lingering concerns about slowing earnings of property developers and banking giant HSBC.

Cheung Kong fell 3.7 per cent, after the South China Morning Post reported the company had slashed property prices at its China projects by 40 per cent.

SYDNEY: Australian share prices closed 0.8 per cent lower. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 33.6 points to 3,927.3, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 38.2 points to 3,883.6.

A total of 1.25 billion shares worth 3.36 billion dollars (2.21 billion US) was traded.

Resources stocks led the market down.

SINGAPORE: Singapore shares closed 1.27 per cent lower.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index closed 22.95 points lower at 1,784.01, finishing below the 1,800 level for the first time in two weeks. Volume reached 1.13 billion shares worth 960.85 million Singapore dollars (640 million US).

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed 0.48 per cent lower.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 4.26 points to close at 890.34.

State telecoms giant Telekom fell 15.5 per cent to 2.79 ringgit while Malaysia’s largest bank by asset size, Maybank, dropped 0.9 per cent to 5.45 ringgit.

JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 0.7 per cent lower.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 9.94 points to 1,326.62.

Telkom lost 1.6 per cent to 6,000 rupiah.

WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.98 per cent lower. The benchmark NZX-50 index fell 27.38 points to close at 2,772.19.

Market leader Telecom closed unchanged at $2.41 and Contact Energy fell nine cents to 7.16.

Auckland International Airport fell two cents to 1.74 dollars and Fisher & Paykel Appliances rose one cent to $1.37.

MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 3.08 per cent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex fell 303.36 points to 9,536.33, at a near three-month low.—AFP